The NIU football team has a 4-2 record.

That record could have easily been flip-flopped if Southern Illinois had completed a last-minute two-point conversion and if kicker Chris Nendick hadn’t nailed a 39-yard field goal as time expired against Central Florida.

The Huskies had a 14-point lead with less than 10 minutes remaining against SIU and led 24-7 against UCF after three quarters, but in both instances they allowed their opponent back in the game.

NIU hopes to rectify its fourth-quarter blues when Central Michigan visits Huskie Stadium at 3:05 p.m. Saturday in the Huskies’ 98th Homecoming celebration.

“We want to put teams away, but it seems like we fall asleep and start taking plays off,” said left guard Ben Lueck, who will start Saturday after sitting out the UCF game because of a right MCL sprain. “Once that happens, they get the momentum back that we took from them.”

NIU has been outscored 66-37 in the fourth quarter this season. Besides the struggles against SIU and UCF, NIU also saw a 34-26 fourth-quarter lead slip away in a 48-41 loss to Iowa State.

Huskies coach Joe Novak said his team needs to do a better job of developing its killer instinct.

“Part of it is not putting away people earlier in the game,” Novak said. “We’ve let people stay in the game. And then they make a play or two and all of a sudden we’re reeling a little bit.”

The Huskies defense expects to receive a heavy dose of CMU running back Jerry Seymour, who was MAC freshman of the year last season after rushing for 1,117 yards. He leads the MAC with 562 rushing yards this season.

CMU ran up 410 yards in its loss to Bowling Green last week but was able to score only 14 points. Its quarterbacks have completed less than 50 percent of their passes and thrown more interceptions than touchdowns.

“Right now, we’re trying to find ourselves on offense,” said CMU coach Brian Kelly. “We don’t have enough balance. When we get into a short field, we need quarterbacks and receivers who can step up and make big plays.”

On defense, CMU is coming off a loss to Bowling Green, where it gave up 510 yards of offense and 38 points.

Despite that, Novak said his team had better be ready for a fight.

“Central Michigan always has a bunch of big, strong, physical guys,” Novak said. “That’s been the makeup of their team forever. They’re going to play tough, and you’ve got to match that toughness.”